AI-powered teacher evaluations
for Arkansas educators.
Cut evaluation documentation from hours to minutes. EvalScribe is built around Arkansas TESS — all four domains, twenty-two components, and the four-level rating scale, exactly as Arkansas's rubric intends.
Saved per evaluation
Built in natively
To capture notes
Evaluator-controlled ratings
Three evaluations free — no credit card · Individual plans from $100/year · School & district licensing available
Endorsed by educational leaders
Game changer. Absolute game changer for school admin.
Tobin Davidson · Assistant Superintendent · 40+ years in education
This is amazing. I would pay lots of money for this. I’m serious — it’s crazy good.
Kittie Brown · Assistant Principal
Also endorsed by Dr. Robert Stinson · Glenn Brown · Angie Brandt — read full quotes ↓
Built by a classroom teacher
Founded by a practicing K–12 educator with nearly 20 years in the field.
Arkansas-specific
TESS built in natively, with all 22 components and the actual four-level rubric.
Privacy-first
Transient processing on Microsoft Azure. Never used for AI training.
Built for workflow
Designed around the realities of being an Arkansas TESS evaluator.
Arkansas TESS, handled natively.
The Teacher Excellence and Support System is Arkansas's statewide framework for K-12 teacher observation and evaluation. Established under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2801 and built on Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching, TESS organizes practice into four domains and twenty-two components, with a four-level rating scale. EvalScribe is built around that structure exactly — same domains, same components, same rubric — rather than approximating it with generic prose.
TESS — Teacher Excellence and Support System
TESS is built on Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching, organized into four observable domains covering twenty-two components. Each component is rated on a four-level performance rubric — Unsatisfactory, Basic, Proficient, Distinguished — that drives the summative evaluation, the Professional Growth Plan, and any Intensive Growth Plan an evaluator may need to assign.
Arkansas TESS — quick facts
- Framework name
- Teacher Excellence and Support System (TESS)
- Governing body
- Arkansas Department of Education, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
- Statutory authority
- Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2801 et seq.
- Foundation
- Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching
- Structure
- 4 domains, 22 components
- Rating scale
- 4 levels — Unsatisfactory, Basic, Proficient, Distinguished
- Year established
- 2011 (Act 1209)
- Most recent rubric update
- November 2023
Four domains. Twenty-two components.
Planning & Preparation
6 componentsClassroom Environment
5 componentsInstruction
5 componentsProfessional Responsibilities
6 componentsThe four-level performance rubric.
Unsatisfactory
Basic
Proficient
Distinguished
How EvalScribe handles TESS
All four TESS domains and all twenty-two components are built into the tool. The four-level performance rubric is applied with rubric-aware logic that distinguishes between adjacent levels the way Arkansas's rubric actually intends — particularly the Proficient-to-Distinguished distinction, where student ownership of learning and the teacher's intentional, evidence-based design begin to drive the lesson rather than the teacher's delivery alone.
How EvalScribe works with TESS.
A five-step path from the back of the classroom to a finished, TESS-aligned evaluation.
Observe the classroom
Walkthrough or formal observation — capture what you see the way you always have.
Enter notes your way
Type, dictate, or snap a photo of your handwritten notes. Smart Scan converts handwriting to text.
Map evidence to TESS
EvalScribe identifies which of the 22 components each note supports across all four domains.
Suggested ratings & comments
Get draft performance-level ratings and professional feedback language in the voice of the TESS rubric.
Review & finalize
Edit anything you want, finalize the evaluation, and export a clean PDF for your records.
EvalScribe runs natively on iPhone, iPad, and Mac — work where you are.
Capture notes the way you already work.
No retraining required. Whatever your walkthrough style, EvalScribe accepts it.
Snap a photo
Photograph your handwritten notes mid-walkthrough. Smart Scan OCR converts handwriting to text — even messy handwriting, even pedagogical terms.
Dictate as you go
Speak observations directly into the app. Voice dictation captures what you saw without breaking your eye contact with the classroom.
Type directly
Prefer to type? Enter notes straight into the app — they flow into the same TESS-aware drafting pipeline as scans and dictation.
Why generic AI falls short for TESS.
Pasting your walkthrough notes into a general-purpose chatbot might produce a paragraph that sounds polished — but for TESS documentation, "sounds polished" isn't the bar. Defensible, rubric-aligned evaluations are.
| Capability | Generic AI (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) | EvalScribe |
|---|---|---|
| Framework awareness | ✕No built-in understanding of Arkansas TESS. Treats every prompt as a generic teaching evaluation. | ✓Built around TESS specifically — four domains, twenty-two components, four-level rubric, all loaded. |
| Component mapping | ✕Hallucinates component numbers (1a, 2c, etc.) and invents rubric language that doesn't match the actual TESS rubric. | ✓Maps evidence to the actual 22 TESS components using the loaded rubric. |
| Rubric scoring | ✕Inconsistent ratings between teachers — and between sessions on the same teacher. | ✓Suggests TESS-appropriate Unsatisfactory / Basic / Proficient / Distinguished ratings based on captured evidence. |
| Level distinctions | ✕Defaults to generic "good/great" framing that misses the Proficient-to-Distinguished distinction TESS actually requires. | ✓Rubric-aware scoring that meaningfully distinguishes between adjacent performance levels in TESS's own terms. |
| Note input | ✕Requires you to retype everything before the AI can do anything with it. | ✓Accepts typed notes, dictation, or photos of handwritten notes via Smart Scan OCR. |
| Feedback language | ✕Vague, generic comments that could describe any teacher. | ✓Professional, evidence-anchored feedback written in the voice of the TESS rubric. |
| Evaluator workflow | ✕No concept of walkthroughs, formal observations, or pre/post conferences. | ✓Built around the actual evaluator workflow, from capture to final exported PDF. |
| Data privacy | ✕Free tiers may use your inputs to train public models. | ✓Enterprise-grade Microsoft Azure. Transient processing. Zero retention. Never used for training. |
| Defensibility | ✕Output you can't trace back to evidence or rubric language. | ✓Every comment is tied to evidence pulled from your notes and the TESS component it supports. |
How much TESS evaluation time could you reclaim?
Tune the inputs to your reality. The numbers update as you go.
You could reclaim approximately
hours per year
Workdays reclaimed
Total evaluations
Based on early EvalScribe users saving an average of 35 minutes per evaluation. Individual results may vary based on your current workflow.
The best way to see it
is to watch it.
Reading about how EvalScribe drafts a TESS evaluation isn't the same as watching it happen. The demo walks through a real observation — capture, mapping, scoring, and final export — start to finish.
The draft review screen — every comment, rating, and piece of mapped evidence is fully editable before export.
See an example EvalScribe report.
A real EvalScribe-generated evaluation, formatted exactly as it exports from the app. The workflow is the same across frameworks — useful to share with district stakeholders.
Download sample PDFWhat educational leaders are saying.
Real feedback from administrators across roles — from academic coaches to assistant superintendents.
EvalScribe is a tool that every public school principal should use. This resource literally makes multiple people out of administrators, allowing them to focus their energies on precise observation analysis and quality feedback while leaving EvalScribe to handle the mechanics. This tool will remove virtually all of the drudgery from the classroom evaluation process and would represent an excellent use of school funds.
Dr. Robert Stinson
Principal
After seeing a detailed demonstration of EvalScribe, I came away very impressed with both the concept and the execution. The platform provides administrators with a practical way to quickly capture classroom observations and generate high-quality, customized feedback that remains aligned to their evaluation framework and local expectations. What stood out most was the balance between efficiency and quality. EvalScribe has the potential to reduce administrative workload while helping school leaders provide more timely and meaningful feedback to teachers — a tool with considerable promise for schools and districts.
Glenn Brown
Director of Student Services
Game changer. Absolute game changer for school admin.
Tobin Davidson
Assistant Superintendent · 40+ years in education
This is amazing. I would pay lots of money for this. I’m serious — it’s crazy good. I look forward to using it on a regular basis next year.
Kittie Brown
Assistant Principal
Evaluators spend an inordinate amount of time recording and documenting evaluations. This app is easy to use, affordable, and incredibly efficient. It cuts the time spent recording and documenting evaluations down significantly and frees us up to handle other aspects of the job. Plus, the conference suggestions save on prep time when a conference is warranted.
Angie Brandt
Academic Coach
Built by educators, for educators.
EvalScribe was co-founded by a practicing classroom teacher and his wife — a husband-and-wife team with thirty years of combined classroom and business experience.
Anthony Neely, Ph.D.
Co-founder · Product
A tenured K–12 classroom teacher and Professional Learning Lead. District Teacher of the Year, with nearly 20 years in education and three published books.
Andrea Neely, Ph.D.
Co-founder · Business
Associate Professor of Management. Research and teaching in organizational management.
Your evaluation data stays yours.
Observation notes are processed transiently on Microsoft Azure and are not retained on our servers. Your evaluation records live locally on your device. Notes and evaluations are never used to train public AI models. For districts needing a Data Processing Agreement or FERPA attestation, those are available on request.
Simple, transparent pricing.
Try EvalScribe with three free evaluations. When you're ready to keep going, pick the plan that fits your role.
Individual
For a single evaluator on their own device.
Billed annually per user
- Unlimited evaluations
- All supported frameworks, including Arkansas TESS
- iOS & macOS access
- 3 free evaluations to start
School-wide
For a school with multiple evaluators.
3+ evaluators
- Everything in Individual
- 10% volume discount
- Unique access code issued to your school
- Easy distribution to your evaluators
District-wide
For districts deploying across every evaluator.
Best value for full deployments
- Everything in School-wide
- 20% volume discount
- Single access code for the entire district
- Direct support contact for rollout
All pricing shown is introductory and may change. For school and district plans, EvalScribe issues a unique access code that the buyer distributes to their evaluators.
Arkansas TESS & EvalScribe — common questions.
Does EvalScribe support Arkansas TESS?
Yes — TESS is built in natively. All four domains, all twenty-two components, and the four-level performance rubric (Unsatisfactory, Basic, Proficient, Distinguished) are loaded into the tool. EvalScribe maps observation evidence to TESS components and suggests rubric-aligned ratings and comments.
Where can I read the official Arkansas TESS framework and rubric?
The official TESS framework is maintained by the Arkansas Department of Education's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Primary sources:
DESE Teacher Excellence and Support System (TESS) home
TESS Rubric Descriptors
Statutory authority: Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-2801 et seq.
Does EvalScribe replace evaluator judgment?
No. EvalScribe drafts evidence-mapped evaluations and suggested performance-level ratings. The evaluator reviews, edits, and finalizes every document. The professional judgment is always yours — EvalScribe just removes the typing.
Is TESS based on the Danielson framework?
Yes. TESS is built on Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching. The four-domain, twenty-two-component structure and the four-level performance rubric come from Danielson's framework, with Arkansas-specific language and procedural rules layered on top. Arkansas is one of several states whose statewide teacher evaluation system is Danielson-based.
Can the generated TESS evaluations be edited?
Yes, fully. Every comment, every rating, and every piece of mapped evidence inside a draft evaluation can be edited before you export the final PDF. You are always the last set of eyes on the document.
Does EvalScribe support walkthroughs as well as formal observations?
Yes. Brief walkthroughs, formative observations, and full summative observations all flow through the same capture-and-draft pipeline, so the documentation produced is consistent across observation types and tracks.
Does EvalScribe support LEADS for administrator evaluations?
EvalScribe is currently focused on the teacher observation and evaluation side — TESS for Arkansas. LEADS, the Arkansas Leader Excellence and Development System used for administrator evaluation, is a separate framework with its own structure. Support for administrator evaluation frameworks may be considered in future builds; this page is for TESS specifically.
Is observation data stored?
Your notes are processed transiently on Microsoft Azure and are not retained on EvalScribe's servers. Your evaluation records sit locally on your device under a local-first architecture. Your data is never used to train public AI models. For more detail, see our Privacy Policy.
How is EvalScribe different from ChatGPT or Claude?
Generic AI tools have no built-in understanding of TESS. They invent component numbers that don't exist, score inconsistently, and produce vague comments that miss the Proficient-to-Distinguished distinction Arkansas's rubric actually requires. EvalScribe is built around the actual TESS structure and rating scale — and the evaluator workflow that surrounds it — from capture through final export.
Is EvalScribe available for iOS and macOS?
Yes. Individual evaluators can download EvalScribe from the Apple App Store on both iOS and macOS, with a free trial that includes three evaluations.
Can schools or districts purchase licenses for multiple evaluators?
Yes. School-wide licensing starts at three or more evaluators ($90/user/year), and district-wide licensing is $80/admin/year. When you order, EvalScribe issues a unique access code that you distribute to your evaluators — no separate provisioning required. Email [email protected] to get started.
Which other state frameworks are supported?
EvalScribe ships with frameworks from all 50 states and Washington D.C., plus general models such as Danielson, Marzano, Stronge, CEL 5D+, NIET, and Kim Marshall. The complete list is available at evalscribe.com/frameworks.
Don't see your question? Reach out via our contact page — we read every message personally.
Page maintained by Anthony D. Neely, Ph.D. — practicing K–12 educator with nearly 20 years in the classroom, 2025–2026 Walker County Distinguished Teacher of the Year, and co-founder of EvalScribe. Framework details verified against current Arkansas DESE source documents.
Page last reviewed: June 26, 2026
Spend less time on paperwork.
Lead your building.
EvalScribe was built to help Arkansas evaluators spend less time documenting TESS evaluations and more time doing what matters: leading instruction, coaching teachers, and walking buildings.
Three evaluations free — no credit card · Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac